Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin
Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin is an optional boss as well as a character in Dark Souls II. He is voiced by David Gant, who also voiced Oswald of Carim in Dark Souls. Description The Scholar of the First Sin appears to be a giant, charred human head covered in flames and large branches. The ground around the Scholar will be on fire. There is a single red orb near the center of his body, which is possibly an eye. His head and shoulders are all the Bearer of the Curse sees as he rises from the ground, but this could imply that there is a body below it, invisible to the player. Locations #He is first encountered in the final primal bonfire room that remains unlit. If all bonfires have been lit prior to downloading the patch, he will automatically appear in the Black Gulch primal bonfire room, after The Rotten. #Upon speaking to the player at the primal bonfire, Aldia will proceed to the first bonfire in the Undead Crypt. #After exhausting his dialogue in the Undead Crypt, Aldia can be found in the Dragon Shrine bonfire room, at a significantly reduced size compared to the first bonfire. #Finally, after completing the dialogue in Dragon Shrine, Aldia will appear as a boss in the Throne of Want in Drangleic Castle after killing Nashandra, but only if Vendrick is killed before Nashandra. The game can be completed without fighting Aldia here, if Nashandra is killed before Vendrick is. Lore Aldia is the elder brother of King Vendrick, and aided his brother in founding the kingdom of Drangleic.Aldia Hammer description. He secluded himself in his manor, searching for secrets of life, viewing the Undead as the key to finding it.Malformed Shell description.Spitfire Spear description. For his reverence of the Undead, Aldia was shunned by Vendrick, banished to his Keep forever.Aldia Key description. People who were invited to his manor commonly disappeared and were replaced with malformed beasts.Spitfire Spear description. The Southern and Northern Ritual Bands were created by Aldia after cruel, horrible experiments were performed on these people.Southern Ritual Band description.Northern Ritual Band description. Many valuable objects came out of Aldia's Keep, including the Sunset Staff,Sunset Staff description. the Spitfire Spear,Spitfire Spear description. Soul Geyser,Soul Geyser description. Unleash Magic,Unleash Magic description. and Forbidden Sun.Forbidden Sun description. Through his experiments, Aldia sought to learn the nature of the undead curse, and to shed the yoke of fate.Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin dialogue. He failed, however, and turned into a monstrosity, inhabiting the bonfires. Plot Aldia serves as a lore-centric character, alluding to a great deal of things in relation to the lore of Dark Souls II. When the Bearer of the Curse has defeated the Four Great Ones and lit the Primal Bonfires he will emerge and guide the Bearer of the Curse towards his brother Vendrick, now a mindless hollow. He continues to appear to the Bearer of the Curse, seeking to learn their intentions and telling them of the nature of the curse and the fabric of their world. He will finally attack the Bearer of the Curse before they can take the Throne of Want, seeking to test them. When Aldia is defeated, he will ask what the Bearer of the Curse wants: light, dark or something else entirely. If the Bearer of the Curse chooses to reject the throne and leave, Aldia will narrate the Bearer of the Curse's departure from the throne. Summoning *Vengarl of Forossa, Benhart of Jugo, and Bradley of the Old Guard can all be found for summoning directly outside the fog gate. Strategy Aldia is immobile when fought, but is able to teleport, releasing an area of effect attack around the area he teleports to. Several of Aldia's attacks deal mixed Fire and Dark damage, so some form of fire defense is recommended for this fight. All of his attacks deal either pure physical or Fire/Dark damage. This means that a shield that is highly resistant to both physical and Fire/Dark damage, such as the Rebel's Greatshield, will reduce his damage output greatly. The Fire Orbs have moderate tracking, so rolling may be needed to fully evade. Forbidden Sun can be cast in any direction, even directly behind him. The Fire Orb and Forbidden Sun attacks can be avoided by rolling, strafing around Aldia or running perpendicular to their trajectory. The withered tree branches he utilizes inflict physical damage only, making them especially prone to being blocked. At a distance, the branches extend out of the ground in a path in front of him, with moderate tracking, making it harder to roll out of the path of the attack. This is easily noted when one rolls away from the attack, but gets grazed by one of the branches, yet doesn't flinch or stagger upon getting hit. Throughout the fight, Aldia will surround himself in a fiery aura that makes close contact with him difficult without the risk of dying to the flames. However, an ultra greatsword can still reach. This aura also bolsters his own defenses, reducing the damage he receives from all attacks by a significant amount. The fiery aura fades when he performs certain moves, giving the player a small window to attack up close. The first opening is just after he teleports to a new location, and the second is when he is charging up his Forbidden Sun attack. When Aldia has about half of his health left, he will buff himself, intensifying the flames that cover him. He will keep this form throughout the battle. At this point, he'll start combining various of his previous attacks and cast them in succession. Attacks Fire Orbs: Aldia will fire out four orbs of dark fire, placing them above his head. After a short time, the orbs will begin homing in on his target. He can cast this multiple times in a row.' How to avoid:' block with Gyrm Greatshield or roll a few times. Dark Forbidden Sun: Aldia charges a large dark fireball above his head. While he does this the fire around him will disperses leaving him vulnerable. Attack him while he's charging. How to avoid: the fireball is rather easy to dodge if you roll away right before it hits. Tree Root Dance: Aldia slams a root into the ground, causing numerous tree roots to protrude from the ground, moving towards the player rapidly. Just like the Fire Snake pyromancy. How to avoid: the roots start appearing right in front of Aldia at the center; a root never appears twice in the same location. Knowing this, first stand closer to his left or right side to avoid the initial roots, then quickly move to stand right in front of him, where the first roots appeared, and the other roots won't be able to follow you. Circular Tree Root Dance: Aldia slams a root into the ground, causing numerous tree roots to come out of the ground around him, not moving towards the player. How to avoid: watch the fire patches appearing on the ground before the roots and move away from them. Teleport: Aldia can teleport at any time. Upon finishing a teleport, he emits an area of effect attack immediately. How to avoid: watch the red light that appears at the location where Aldia is teleporting, then stand back to avoid the blast (similar to Smelter Demon's fire blast). After that immediately run up to him to land a few hits before his flames go up. Weaknesses and resistances "Burnt out" mode: Low Lightning and Physical-type damage reistance, Moderate resistance to Magic and Fire. "Flame" mode, 1st phase: Moderate resistance to Lightning and Physical-type damage, high resistance to Magic and Fire. "Flame" mode, 2nd phase: High resistance to Lightning and Physical-type damage, very high resistance to Magic and Fire. Dialogue With the introduction of Scholar of the First Sin, a great deal of lore-centric dialogue was added to the game, changing much of the preconceived lore. The deformed Aldia is encountered several times by the Bearer of the Curse. His dialogue ranges from benign to going as far as to express outward rage at Gwyn, Lord of Cinder. He is referred to by Aldia as the "Lord of Light". The scholar describes how the old Lord of Sunlight expelled the darkness, and began the cycle of light and dark. This cycle, this curse, forced men to assume a fleeting form, reverting them back to their hollow form. They became less than what they were, and to Aldia, this is the first sin he has taken his name from. He claims that men are mere props, and that no matter how exquisite, a lie will remain a lie. The anger is audible in his voice at this point, an expression of his fury at the commitment of the first sin, the first linking of the flame. The scholar alludes to the fates of the three kings, whether or not the player has played through The Lost Crowns DLCs. He speaks also of Vengarl of Forossa. When questioning what drives the player, he mentions that: "One man lost his own body, but lingers on, as a head." Defenses Aldia (vulnerable) Aldia (on fire, prior to buff) Aldia (on fire, buffed) Notes *Aldia during boss fight can be in either "flame" mode or “burnt out" mode. **In "flame" mode he has very high damage reduction and creates an aura, which may seriously wound player *If the player killed Nashandra before downloading the patch, Aldia will not appear in the Throne of Want, even if he has been spoken to in all three previous locations. A Bonfire Ascetic must be burned at the King's Gate bonfire to spawn Aldia, which means the player must defeat Nashandra as well as the Throne Watcher and Defender again before being able to fight Aldia. *During the fight, spears and shields with high fire resistance are recommended. *Aldia drops nothing upon defeat, not even souls. The only reward from defeating him is that the player has the option to leave the throne, giving the player an alternate ending. **This could mean that the Bearer of the Curse doesn't actually "slay" Aldia. It also suggests that what Aldia did to transform himself was to remove his very soul from his being. *If a weapon is swung within close vicinity to any of the bonfires he has manifested at, its durability will degrade unusually fast. This goes for all Primal Bonfires as well as the entrance to the Undead Crypt, and Shrine Entrance bonfire in Dragon Shrine. *He's one of the main antagonists of Dark Souls II. He was added in patch 1.10 and is only accessible to players who have installed Compatibility Pack 4. Trivia *Aldia shares some traits with King Allant from Demon's Souls. Their voices are very similar, and their appearances are both that of deformed creatures which were once human. *If Aldia manifests to the player at the Shrine Entrance bonfire in the Dragon Shrine, due to the small area where it's located at, a very tiny version of Aldia will emerge. *Both of Aldia's tree root attacks are very similar to pyromancies the Bearer of the Curse can find, such as Fire Snake or Firestorm. Gallery Aldia at Dragon Shrine.png|Aldia at the Dragon Shrine SotFS Aldia.jpg|Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin Videos Dark Souls II - Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin 1.10 Content PS3 360 PC|Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin locations, boss strategy and new alternate ending Music References pl:Aldia, Mędrzec Pierwszego Grzechu Category:Dark Souls II: Bosses Category:Dark Souls II: Characters Category:Dark Souls II: Optional Bosses